


how did it end up like this (it was only a kiss)

by fir8008



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Fluff, Kissing, Love Confessions, M/M, Misunderstandings, akiteru trying to be a good big bro, first names are used, tsukki has some brief man pain but it's mainly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-31
Updated: 2019-05-31
Packaged: 2020-03-30 23:27:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19037686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fir8008/pseuds/fir8008
Summary: Akiteru does A Thing and everyone misunderstands(but it does get his baby brother and little tadashi to finally get together)





	how did it end up like this (it was only a kiss)

**Author's Note:**

> oya oya oya
> 
> so recently i've been binge-reading the manga (i'm not caught up) and i happened to see a completely out of context manga panel of akiteru crying over how much yamaguchi has grown up and thus this fic was born! it kind of outgrew my original idea and in context of the canon i have no idea if this fits anywhere reasonable (like kuroo is here just because i needed him to be a minor shit stirrer and that's literally it) but it's just supposed to be fluff (though tsukki has some man pain because i can't resist a dash of angst) It's also 3am and i totally didn't edit this so i may be back to tidy up any typos later 
> 
> oh, also there are a couple f-bombs, but i didn't really think this needed a T rating overall for them 
> 
> with that said, I do hope you enjoy! 
> 
>  
> 
> Title comes from The Killers' "Mr. Brightside"

Akiteru is overflowing with pride. Despite Kei’s grumbling, he hadn’t sent Akiteru away when he’d shown up to observe Karasuno’s training camp with Nekoma. After all, Akiteru had been at Karasuno when their rivalry with Nekoma was still going strong. Kei had grumbled a lot, huffing out comments about Akiteru acting like a puppy and being far too pleased about being an overgrown ball boy, but he hadn’t demanded Akiteru leave - he really couldn’t with Shimada and Takinoue also there. Their relationship had been improving in leaps and bounds since Kei had gotten more serious about volleyball and Akiteru grew more and more pleased with each day. His little brother was just being angsty because he was going through puberty and his standoffishness was just endearing to Akiteru. 

It wasn’t just Kei that was impressing Akiteru though. Little Tadashi had really come into his own lately. Seeing Tadashi confident made Akiteru feel like a proud dad or something. He can remember the first time he’d met Tadashi, opening the door to a trembling little boy who was nervously asking if “Kei-kun” was home. Akiteru had almost cried happy tears. His little brother had a friend! Honestly, Akiteru sometimes questioned how they became friends considering they had such contrasting personalities, but Akiteru was grateful for Tadashi for being so patient with his brother. On top of that, Akiteru found Tadashi so affably cute and though Tadashi’s wide eyed adoration for Akiteru and his volleyball skills drove knives into his heart while Akiteru was faking being the ace, he was even more grateful for Tadashi when he didn’t stray from Kei’s side even after the truth came out. And now, seeing Tadashi all grown up just tugged on Akiteru’s sensitive heart strings. 

It’s when Akiteru is watching Tadashi (and tearing up about how far he’s come from being that tiny shy boy) when he sees it for the first time. 

The Nekoma captain, Akiteru thinks his name is Kuroo, is in the middle of praising Tadashi for improving his receives steadily when he rests his hand on the top of Tadashi’s head. It’s an innocent gesture, but when Kuroo twirls Tadashi’s cowlick around his index finger that’s when Akiteru notices how tense Kei goes, how the line of his shoulders is suddenly stiff and his posture is no longer relaxed. 

“I thought you wanted to practice blocking,” Kei bites out. “Why don’t we do that?” 

“Sure, sure,” Kuroo pats Tadashi’s head and they resume their free practice. 

Akiteru blinks. Kuroo is smirking knowingly at Kei’s scowl and Akiteru wonders if Kuroo has caught on, like Akiteru just has, to Kei’s crush. 

 

After the truth about Akiteru came out, Kei had started avoiding him. Akiteru couldn’t blame him, and more than that, Akiteru was sometimes grateful. He was embarrassed to show his face to his little brother. In a way, he felt like he had let down Kei more than he had let down himself. Tadashi still came around and still smiled up at Akiteru shyly and Akiteru felt some relief to see Tadashi. Tadashi meant that Kei hadn’t shut his peers out (any more than usual) and Tadashi didn’t really strike Akiteru as a stubborn type that would persevere through Kei’s standoffishness. 

“Hey, Tadashi,” Akiteru had said once when he came over. Kei had been holed up in his room but Tadashi had still come around, shy as usual.

“Hello, Akiteru-kun.” Tadashi smiled. “Is Kei-kun around?” 

“Yeah, he’s in his room.” Akiteru had let Tadashi in, watching him carefully toe off his shoes. “Hey, Tadashi?” 

“Yes, Akiteru-kun?” 

“I’m going to college soon, so we may not see much of each other for a long time.” 

“Oh, really?” Tadashi had started fiddling with his hands. 

Akiteru smiled. “Look after Kei for me, okay?” 

Tadashi had looked up at him with wide eyes, but had nodded. He looked so determined. 

“I’m counting on you.”

Akiteru always remembers Tadashi like that, as a shy little boy who was half Kei’s size. So when a practice match wraps up and Tadashi has landed several service aces with his jump floater it’s no surprise that Akiteru is brimming with admiration. Little Tadashi is so confident now! He’s getting praised by his teammates! Shimada looks equally happy his student has gained quite a bit of mastery over the jump floater. And Tadashi looks proud of himself too. Akiteru tells Tadashi how impressive he looked and Tadashi continues to beam.

So really, can Akiteru be blamed for cupping Tadashi’s face in his hands and planting a kiss on his forehead? 

It takes half a second for everything to sink in. Akiteru can feel the heat radiating off Tadashi’s face before he actually sees how red Tadashi’s gone. 

“Akiteru-kun!” 

Tadashi’s shriek definitely shocks Akiteru back into reality and it hits him very fast that he has fucked up. He lets go of Tadashi’s face immediately, scrambling for words because wow he didn’t mean to do that it just came over him and jeez does Nekoma’s captain really laugh like that it’s such a weird ugly hacking noise to come out of such a good looking guy and Akiteru is not going to look at Kei fuck he looked at Kei and he doesn’t look happy if looks could kill Akiteru would be so very dead right now Akiteru has fucked up he has fucked up he has fucked up… 

In a way, Shimada kind of saves him because he grabs Tadashi by the shoulders and steers him away from Akiteru, loudly asking if Kinoshita is really learning the jump floater and Yamaguchi should introduce them so Shimada can help. Takinoue pats Akiteru on the shoulder. 

“Uh, way to shoot your shot, or whatever, but, uh, you know that kid is sixteen right? The same age as your brother?” Takinoue says. 

Akiteru almost screams. “It’s not like that!” He looks around frantically for support but almost everyone has moved on already. His eyes lock with Kei’s for a second and Kei scowls. Akiteru opens his mouth but Kei gives him another disgusted look and stalks out of the gym. Kuroo, who has finally stopped laughing, smirks at him and gives him a thumbs up. 

Nevermind the day when Kei caught him in his elaborate volleyball lie, this is certainly the worst day of his life. 

 

“Hey, little bro.” 

Kei shoots Akiteru a withering look. 

“About earlier…” 

Kei half turns his back, but he doesn’t actually get up and storm off. Akiteru is happy for small victories. 

“Do you remember a few times, you and Tadashi would be at our house, you two would be hanging out, and I’d have to go somewhere? You were at the age where you didn’t want to get embarrassed in front of your friend, but I kissed your head goodbye anyway?” Akiteru smiles. “Remember that after the first time I caught you, I kissed Tadashi goodbye too?” 

Kei’s eyes slide to him and then back into glaring at nothing. Akiteru smiles at the memory. It was back when he and Kei were closest. He was going somewhere - probably volleyball practice, if he thinks about it - and he took the chance to be a good big brother and embarrass Kei a little. Kei had struggled and huffed about being too old for it, but what caught Akiteru’s attention was Tadashi’s expression. His eyes were big and shiny. He actually looked envious. So once Akiteru had finally planted one on Kei, he leaned over and planted one of Tadashi too. Tadashi had lit up, blushing brightly and acting just as flustered but undeniably pleased. It had made Akiteru’s heart hurt after a while. How affection starved was Tadashi to be so happy over a half-kiss on the top of his head? Akiteru knew his little brother, and knew he tended to be a bit cool, so he was sure to really lay the praise on thick when it came to Tadashi. The kid was good enough to want Kei as a friend, and Akiteru liked him a lot. 

“I remember,” Kei intones dully. 

“It was like that before.” Akiteru sits beside his brother. “I got overwhelmed thinking about how much little Tadashi’s grown up.” 

“So you kissed him in front of two entire teams?”

Akiteru laughs. “Got very overwhelmed. And hey, it was on the forehead.”

Kei just shrugs. He seems moodier than usual. 

Akiteru nudges him. Kei gives him a dirty look. “Are you upset at me because you have a crush on Tadashi?”

“Do I have a what?” Kei sputters. 

Akiteru blinks. “Did I misunderstand…?”

“How did you know?” Kei almost yells over him. He looks more emotional and incensed than Akiteru thinks he’s ever seen his brother. 

Akiteru searches for words. “Just the past day or two, whenever someone else is near Tadashi you get all stiff and you’re more annoyed than usual. Like when the Nekoma captain was playing with his hair. And you looked like you were going to kill me when I kissed him. So I sort of guessed you had a crush.” 

Kei’s shoulders slump. “Is it that obvious?” 

“Well, I don’t really know. I am your brother, so maybe I picked up on it faster.” 

Kei just sighs. Akiteru scoots closer. “Tell your brother all about it,” he says, trying to sound sage and dependable. “How long have you liked little Tadashi?” 

Kei stares into the night sky for a moment before he answers. “Middle school. Right after that practice match your third year.” 

Akiteru blinks rapidly. “That long?” 

“I didn’t really know they were romantic feelings until later,” Kei says. “But my feelings towards Yamaguchi definitely changed right after that.”

“Why?” 

“Because he stayed.” Kei is fiddling with his fingers. “I thought, after what happened, he wouldn’t want to be friends. We only became close because I bragged about you. I thought…” Kei presses his lips together. “But anyway, he didn’t leave, he just held onto me even more tightly than before.”

“Have you told him?” 

“No.” 

“Why not?” 

Kei makes a face before turning to Akiteru with a self-deprecating smile, the same one he flashed after he injured his hand in the match against Shiratorizawa. Akiteru knows there’s some agonized feeling hiding behind it. 

“Well, because I don’t think Yamaguchi would feel the same way. After all, he grew up and learned to fight on his own before I did. He became cool and did that by himself. It’s not like I got serious right after he scolded me. All of a sudden he ran ahead of me, why would he look behind him now?” 

“Kei…” 

“I’ve been thinking lately that at some point, Yamaguchi won’t need me. He looked up to me because I saved him from bullies one time, and then I taught him how to play volleyball. He doesn’t need me to protect him anymore. So it’s very likely,” Kei’s facade crumbles momentarily before he plasters his fake grin back on, “that Yamaguchi doesn’t need me at all.” 

“Do you really think Tadashi is like that?” 

Kei’s face falls. “No.” 

Akiteru smacks his arm. “Then don’t be so down on yourself! Tadashi doesn’t think like that.” 

Kei still has a sullen expression. “Tadashi deserves someone better than me.” 

“Like who?” 

Kei finally scowls at him. “Someone caring. Someone more like you, probably.” 

Akiteru scoots closer to put his arm around Kei’s shoulders. “Kei, Tadashi has stuck by your side for years, even with your challenging personality. I used to worry about him being your friend because you had a tendency to not get along with other kids. You still have that, but hasn’t Tadashi always been an exception to that? He likes you as a friend, at the very least. You’re best friends.” 

Kei doesn’t say anything. Akiteru gives his shoulder a squeeze. “You should tell him though, so your feelings don’t tear you up inside.” Kei has a worried expression so Akiteru gives him another squeeze. “You don’t think he’d be the kind of person who couldn’t go back to being your friend even if he didn’t feel the same, do you?” 

“Thank you,” Kei mumbles. “Nii-chan.” 

“That’s what big brothers are for!” Akiteru says proudly. 

 

Akiteru doesn’t really expect Kei to take the initiative immediately, but he does happily observe that Kei is acting pretty normal around Tadashi. He’s even better at schooling his expression when Kuroo comes and leans on Tadashi. 

Tadashi actually comes and finds him after their free practice ends. “Akiteru-kun!” 

“Tadashi!” Akiteru smiles. “You did a good job today.” 

“Thank you,” Tadashi blushes from the praise. 

“Oh, um, about yesterday, I’m sorry. I was thinking about how much you and Kei have grown up and I got a little carried away.” 

Tadashi’s face grows more pink. “I wanted to talk to you about that, Akiteru-kun.” 

Akiteru isn’t sure he likes where this is going. 

Tadashi is playing with his hands. He and Kei have so many of the same nervous habits. “Um. I know you’ve been a part of my life for a long time, and I’m very flattered, but I, uh, can’t accept your feelings! I’m sorry. But, well, there’s someone else I like.” Tadashi’s face is bright red by the time he stops, and he isn’t looking at Akiteru anymore, instead staring at his shoes. 

Oh my god. Tadashi just rejected him. Akiteru doesn’t know if he should laugh or cry. 

“Oh, no, don’t worry about that at all! Honestly, yesterday wasn’t supposed to be a love confession, really, I was just carried away and emotional!” Akiteru laughs. 

Tadashi actually looks a bit relieved. “Oh, that’s a relief. I really didn’t want to hurt your feelings.” 

“No worries!” Akiteru smiles. “But there’s someone else you like?” 

Tadashi blushes again and nods. 

What kind of brother would Akiteru be if he didn’t fish a little on Kei’s behalf? “Is it that guy from Nekoma? The one with the wild hair?” 

“Kuroo-san?” Tadashi blinks. “No, it’s not him.” 

This is a good sign. Honestly, Akiteru doesn’t really want to go through a whole process of elimination so he decides to just ask. “Well then, is it Kei?” 

Tadashi looks startled. “You could tell?” he asks quietly. 

Akiteru could cry with happiness. His sullen baby brother actually has a chance. “I just figured, you and Kei have been friends for so long, feelings might develop naturally. How long have you liked him that way?” Akiteru pats the seat beside his and Tadashi sits. 

“Just a few months ago,” Tadashi says. 

Akiteru blinks. Considering how tightly Tadashi always clung to Kei, Akiteru would have figured Tadashi had liked him since they first met. “Really?” 

“I’ve always liked Tsukki,” Tadashi smiles softly. “But after that training camp in the summer, when Tsukki really started to show how much he cared about improving, I saw something new in him. That made me realize I liked him as more than a best friend.” 

“Have you told him? Oh! And don’t worry, my lips are sealed. I’m sure Kei wouldn’t be happy if I interfered too much.” 

“I’m not ready to tell him yet,” Tadashi replies. “I’m still waiting.” 

“Waiting for him to give you a sign?” Akiteru asks. 

Tadashi shakes his head. “I’m waiting until I’m braver, so even if he rejects me I won’t lose confidence.” Tadashi smiles at Akiteru. “I can’t afford to implode and hide from him even if he doesn’t like me back.” 

Okay, now Akiteru wants to cry. Tadashi has really grown up without him noticing. 

“I know my brother can be cold, but I don’t think he’d ever hurt you,” Akiteru says sincerely. 

“I know,” Tadashi says. 

Akiteru pats Tadashi’s hair. “You’re already like my brother, so I hope you and my brother can go on being happy together, whether it’s as best friends or more.” 

Tadashi smiles even more brightly. 

 

Considering that Tadashi said he wasn’t yet brave enough to confess to his brother, and that Kei hadn’t made any move yesterday to tell Tadashi his feelings, Akiteru is very surprised when he finds himself stuck listening to them talking. Akiteru can’t really get away without showing himself so it seems he’s found himself stuck. This is really already his fault for going with his dumb instinct to hide when he heard his brother and Tadashi instead of going on his merry way like a normal person. 

“Yes, Tsukki?” Tadashi’s voice is cheery. 

“I need to talk to you about something.” Kei, in contrast, sounds quite serious. 

“Oh, is it about your brother?” Tadashi laughs nervously. “Don’t worry. I talked to him already. It was just a misunderstanding.” 

“No, not that. But it’s important.” 

“What is it, Tsukki? You can tell me anything and I’ll listen! Is it about Kuroo-san? He’s always like that, you know, he likes to rile people up. Don’t let him-” 

“Tadashi.” 

Tadashi goes quiet. Oh my god, Akiteru is really going to be here listening to his brother confess. 

“Tadashi, I like you. As more than friends. And I have for a long time now.” 

Akiteru holds his breath. 

“Do you mean that?” Tadashi asks. 

“Yes. I really like you.” Kei sounds nervous now. “You don’t have to accept my feelings.” Akiteru winces. Now he’s starting to babble. “I would understand it if you didn’t! I know you deserve someone who will treat you well and be kind and I know I’m not…” 

“Tsukki!” 

Akiteru jumps. Tadashi has some lungs. 

“Wha…” 

“I like you too! So please don’t say self-deprecating things about yourself. I like you too.” 

Akiteru breathes a sigh of relief. 

“And about my brother…” 

Akiteru freezes. 

Kei is mumbling and Akiteru wishes he could hear him better. Apparently, Tadashi had trouble understanding Kei too so he asks gently for Kei to repeat himself. 

“My brother doesn’t have to kiss you anymore!” Akiteru jumps and feels for his unsteady heart. “I’ll kiss you instead,” Kei resumes mumbling. Akiteru almost wants to give up his hiding spot to see the flustered look on his brother’s face. 

Tadashi is giggling. “Tsukki, you don’t have to be jealous of Akiteru-kun.” 

There’s a short silence and Akiteru dares to peek out from his hiding spot. His brother and Tadashi are wrapped in each other’s arms and kissing. Akiteru hides again and sheds a happy tear. He feels accomplished. If it weren’t for Akiteru’s kiss, they probably would have kept dancing around their feelings for months. 

Now Akiteru hopes they walk off hand in hand soon so Akiteru can come out of his hiding spot.


End file.
